While my friend Sarah and I were at the pumpkin patch with our kids last month, I picked up a couple Sugar Pie pumpkins with plans on turning them into pumpkin puree to use in baking. As with most of my best intentions, life got in the way, and my little pumpkins languished quietly in the corner of the dining room until this weekend. I finally got sick of looking at them, and since I had declared today my day to "stay in the kitchen and bake all day", I decided to cut one open and get it roasting. I started with one little pumpkin, in all its natural glory:
I broke off the stem, then sliced it in half and scooped out the seeds. I had a really hard time getting all the strings cleaned out, and after a while decided it wasn't worth it and that they could stay:
I put the pumpkin halves cut side down on a cookie sheet, and roasted them for about 1 hour at 400 degrees. You know they are done when they are tender and look like this:
After the pumpkin cooled, I peeled the skin off and scooped out what I could of the pumpkin, trying to avoid the really stringy parts. I used a mixer to blend it together, stopping periodically to wash off the strings that clung to the mixing paddle. In the end, I filled a mason jar with smooth pumpkin puree, about 4 cups worth from my one pumpkin.
Was it worth it? I don't know. It was pretty easy, and not terribly time consuming. But the smell of roasting pumpkin was a little nauseating for me, and I did have a hard time getting all the strings out. Next time I will probably try pushing it through a strainer. I also think that while the pumpkins I got claimed to be Sugar Pie's, they seemed a little large and perhaps not as flavorful as they should be. I have my fingers crossed that Musque De Provence pumpkins will thrive next year in our garden, and I will also try growing another squash known to be good in pies, maybe a Long Island Cheese or a Queensland Blue. Pumpkin is one of my favorite fall flavors, and I love baking with it so I am excited to try making pureed pumpkin again next year with our own homegrown squashes!
I broke off the stem, then sliced it in half and scooped out the seeds. I had a really hard time getting all the strings cleaned out, and after a while decided it wasn't worth it and that they could stay:
I put the pumpkin halves cut side down on a cookie sheet, and roasted them for about 1 hour at 400 degrees. You know they are done when they are tender and look like this:
After the pumpkin cooled, I peeled the skin off and scooped out what I could of the pumpkin, trying to avoid the really stringy parts. I used a mixer to blend it together, stopping periodically to wash off the strings that clung to the mixing paddle. In the end, I filled a mason jar with smooth pumpkin puree, about 4 cups worth from my one pumpkin.
Was it worth it? I don't know. It was pretty easy, and not terribly time consuming. But the smell of roasting pumpkin was a little nauseating for me, and I did have a hard time getting all the strings out. Next time I will probably try pushing it through a strainer. I also think that while the pumpkins I got claimed to be Sugar Pie's, they seemed a little large and perhaps not as flavorful as they should be. I have my fingers crossed that Musque De Provence pumpkins will thrive next year in our garden, and I will also try growing another squash known to be good in pies, maybe a Long Island Cheese or a Queensland Blue. Pumpkin is one of my favorite fall flavors, and I love baking with it so I am excited to try making pureed pumpkin again next year with our own homegrown squashes!